Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Buys 2,401 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 85.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,401 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

YUM opened at $155.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.18. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.